INDISPENSABLE THAT GUATEMALA VERIFICATION MISSION BE PROVIDED WITH NECESSARY RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Press Release
GA/AB/3347

INDISPENSABLE THAT GUATEMALA VERIFICATION MISSION BE PROVIDED WITH NECESSARY RESOURCES, FIFTH COMMITTEE TOLD

Committee Takes up Budget Implications of Texts on MINUGUA, International Law Commission, Central America and Small Arms

It was indispensable that the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) be provided with the resources it needed to continue its mission, the Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) was told this morning, as it decided to inform the Assembly of some $27.69 million in budget implications that would arise should the Assembly adopt a draft resolution extending the mandate of that mission.

The Mission’s work had been exemplary -- to the credit of the United Nations and to the benefit of Guatemala, the representative of that country added. Its presence had been crucial to the peace process, and the Mission was a great success for the international community.

The Committee also commenced consideration this morning of the budget implications of three other drafts proposed to the Assembly: on a proposed split session next year for the International Law Commission, on Central America and on small arms.

The representatives of Canada, Brazil, United States, Egypt, China, Japan, Bahamas, Kenya, South Africa, Zambia, Sudan, Israel, Argentina, Ethiopia, Cuba, Mexico and Costa Rica also spoke on the statements of programme budget implications.

The Committee also discussed its schedule of informal consultations.

When the Committee turned its attention to other matters, the representatives of Costa Rica, Algeria, New Zealand and Cuba spoke.

The Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), C.S.M. Mselle, introduced that body’s comments on the Secretary-General’s estimates of budget implications. Warren Sach, Director of the Budget Division, answered Member States’ questions. Under other matters, Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services Toshiyuki Niwa responded to questions raised in previous meetings by Member States on the United Nations Headquarters catering contract, on actions taken on asbestos in the Headquarters building, on gifts to the Secretary-General and on the details of the use of a dog squad for bomb detection.

The Committee will meet again at 10 a.m. on 6 December, when it will take up the financing of the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK).

Committee Work Programme

The Fifth Committee (Administrative and Budgetary) met this morning to examine the programme budget implications of draft resolutions on small arms, the United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA), Central America and the International Law Commission.

The Committee had before it a Secretary-General’s note on the programme budget implications of a draft resolution approved by the General Assembly’s First Committee (Disarmament and International Security) contained in document A/C.1/54/L.42/Rev.1 on general and complete disarmament: small arms (document A/C.5/54/31).

If the draft resolution is passed, according to the statement, it is envisaged that conference-servicing costs would amount to some $1.6 million at full cost, assuming that the meetings for the conference and preparatory committee would be convened in New York. In accordance with relevant Assembly resolutions, neither the conference nor its preparatory committee would be entitled to summary records, the cost of which would have been about $448,900. The full cost of temporary assistance would be $313,400 ($166,100 in 2000 and $147,300 in 2001). Full consultancy costs are estimated to be $71,200, including travel and daily subsistence allowance. The total estimated costs for public information activities would amount to $338,500.

Provision is made under the relevant section of the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001, for meetings authorized subsequent to the budget’s approval, provided the number and distribution of such meetings are consistent with the patterns of past years. Therefore, no additional appropriation would be required for conference services unless summary records were required. Additional appropriations of $723,100 would be required under section 4, Disarmament ($384,600); and under section 26, Public information ($338,500). In addition, $56,500 would be required under section 32, Staff assessment, to be offset by the same amount under income Section 1, Income from staff assessment for the additional staff for the Department for Disarmament Affairs.

According to related comments from the Committee on Conferences (document A/C.5/54/31/Add.1), the matter of whether summary records would be provided for this conference or not was discussed. Four options were discussed, including provision of summary records for all and for part of the preparatory meetings, for the Conference only and for only those meetings at which decisions would be taken. The Committee on Conferences advises that none of these options received sufficient support to be recommended.

The Committee had another Secretary-General’s statement on the programme budget implications, of draft resolution A/54/L.27 on the extension of the mandate of MINUGUA (documents A/C.5/54/32 and Corr.1). The Secretary-General states that, should the General Assembly extend the Mission’s mandate as recorded in the draft resolution, some $27.69 million in additional requirements would arise under section 3, Political affairs, of the proposed 2000-2001 programme budget. This would be charged against the $86.2 million provision proposed for special political missions under section 3, Political affairs, of the proposed programme budget. A statement of the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/54/L.24/Rev.1 on Central America (document A/C.5/54/34) was also before the Committee. According to that statement, should the General Assembly adopt draft resolution A/54/L.24/Rev.1, requirements of $187,700 would arise under section 3, Political affairs, of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001.

The General Assembly decided last December that a provision of $86.2 million should be included in the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001 for special political missions. This amount would, therefore, be charged against that provision.

According to the statement, this amount would, in accordance with the draft resolution, be used to continue to provide good offices, substantive support and political guidance to MINUGUA, continue verification and good offices for the peace agenda in El Salvador, and continue support for initiatives and activities of the Central American governments to consolidate peace, comprehensive sustainable development and to establish the Central American Union.

The Secretary-General’s statement on programme budget implications of draft resolution A/C.6/54/L.7/Rev.1, on the report of the International Law Commission on the work of its fifty-first session (document A/C.5/54/35) was also before the Committee. By the terms of that draft, approved by the Assembly’s Sixth Committee (Legal), the next session of the International Law Commission would be a split session held at the United Nations Office at Geneva from 1 May to 9 June and from 10 July to 18 August 2000. The Secretary-General reports that no modifications to the relevant medium-term plan programmes would be necessary as a result of the draft resolution.

The Secretary-General advises that provision was made in the proposed 2000- 2001 programme budget for two annual 12-week sessions at Geneva. The requirements for honoraria and travel for members of the Commission and for travel of Secretariat staff for the biennium’s proposed two 12-week sessions at Geneva were estimated at some $1.96 million. The holding of a split session in 2000 would result in additional costs totalling $105,200 under programme budget section 8, Legal affairs, for travel of the Chairman and members of the Commission ($90,000) and travel and subsistence for members of the Secretariat ($15,200). No additional resources would be required for the provision of conference services for the Commission’s split session.

Minute of Silence

The Committee observed a minute’s silence for Adrien Teirlinck of Belgium, its chairman during the forty-ninth session of the General Assembly, who has died.

Programme Budget Implications

The Committee then resumed consideration of its agenda item on the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001, taking up the programme budget implications of draft resolution A/54/L.27: United Nations Verification Mission in Guatemala (MINUGUA) (A/C.5/54/32).

C.S.M. MSELLE, Chairman of the Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions (ACABQ), presented that body’s comments and observations.

He said the Advisory Committee had noted the previous budget presentation for MINUGUA would have benefited from the provision of data allowing better annual comparison and explanation of the variances between budget submissions, as well as inclusion of a more detailed performance report.

The Committee did not recommend any reduction in the estimates proposed by the Secretary-General as contained in document A/C.5/54/32.

BRENDA CASTELLANOS-GONZALEZ (Guatemala) said when the draft resolution to extend the MINUGUA mandate came before the Assembly, Guatemala had given the draft unconditional support. The MINUGUA was a factor for trust in Guatemala.

She said Guatemala believed MINUGUA’s work had been exemplary -- to the credit of the United Nations and to the benefit of Guatemala. Its presence had been crucial to the peace process. The peace process had made great progress, but, of course, much needed to be done. It was unthinkable not to have the presence of the United Nations in the peace process in Guatemala. The Mission was a great success for the United Nations and the international community.

It was indispensable that MINUGUA be provided with the resources it needed to continue its mission, she said. She thanked the Fifth Committee for its continued support.

JOHN ORR (Canada) said his delegation was a strong supporter of MINUGUA, but he said that the programme budget implications introduced today should be discussed today, and action should be taken as a whole in the context of the programme budget.

CARLOS ALBERTO MICHAELSEN DEN HARTOG (Brazil) said MINUGUA was very important for the region. He had doubts about the statement of the representative of Canada -- his delegation was flexible on the question.

SUSAN SHEAROUSE (United States) said she wholeheartedly supported the extension of the MINUGUA mandate, but asked for clarification on some detailed elements of the budget proposal, including the transition of series 300 staff to series 100 staff, the rental fees for premises, new vehicles and computer equipment.

WARREN SACH, Director of the Budget Division, then responded to Member States questions.

The 300 series contract rules included allowances for appointments of limited duration; however, these had a maximum of four years duration. They came with a simplified remuneration package. This was now a factor, given the duration of the Mission. When staff members were changed from 300 series to 100 series contracts, there were additional costs, and these were reflected in the annex to the Secretary-General’s statement.

Regarding replacement of vehicles, he said there were 229 vehicles operating in the Mission in heavy and difficult terrain. The request for replacement of 10 vehicles applied only for those that were required and that were seriously damaged.

The computers were an essential requirement for the operation of the Mission, he said.

Regarding the overall MINUGUA costs for the year 2000, he said the rate of expenditure expected was lower than that for 1998 and 1999. A drop in annual requirements was foreseen. However, those requested replacements were unavoidable.

Regarding lease arrangements, the resources request reflected the terms available for the continued rental of essential premises, he said. There were increases in costs of leases, but they were not substantial increases, and the costs of extending those leases would be considerably less than the costs of moving.

Ms. SHEAROUSE (United States) clarified that she had been asking whether replacement equipment could not be found from existing sources.

Mr. SACH said there were no spare supplies that could be devoted to MINUGUA, given the pressure of new missions.

PENNY WENSLEY (Australia), Fifth Committee Chairman, said in response to the representative of Canada that five programme budget implications were under consideration today, and two others were in the pipeline, depending on availability of documentation. She noted the request of the representative of Canada and the position of Brazil.

The Committee then turned its attention to the programme budget implications statement related to the draft on Central America.

The ACABQ Chairman, Mr. MSELLE, introduced that body’s comments. The proposal was a continuation of the previous mandate, and the Secretary-General was proposing a continuation of related resources. The total requirements were staff costs of $187,700, which would be a charge against the special political missions allocation for 2000-2001. The ACABQ agreed with the Secretary-General’s proposal.

Additionally, on procedures for dealing with programme budget implications, he said there was a procedure which would allow the Fifth Committee to defer consideration of budget estimates but allow the Assembly to adopt the resolutions from which they arose. He offered this information as advice, he said.

The CHAIRMAN then said she would raise the matter at her scheduled meeting with the President of the General Assembly later today.

Ms. SHEAROUSE (United States) said that an amount of some $350,000 had been approved for this purpose last year; however, she understood that, as of April 1999, only some $166,000 had been spent. She asked for an explanation of this underspending.

Mr. SACH, Director of the Budget Division, said that for the biennium 1998- 1999 expenditures would be below those appropriated for 1998-1999 because the Professional staff member assigned was at the P-3 level, rather than the approved P-4 level, and there had been a short period when the post was vacant. It was anticipated that the staff member engaged in this activity would be at the approved P-4 level for 2000.

The Committee then turned to consideration of the programme budget implications of the International Law Commission draft resolution.

Mr. MSELLE presented that body’s comments.

Ms. SHEAROUSE (United States) said her delegation had real problems with the programme budget implications of this draft. She found it incredible that the Secretariat had not been able to find internal savings to meet the additional amount requested. The United States said the $105,000 requested should be found within the proposed budget.

AYMAN ELGAMMAL (Egypt) said his understanding was that this was a permanent process and not just a request for 2000. He asked for clarification on this.

Mr. SACH said that the Secretariat’s understanding was that the split- session arrangement had been approved for the year 2000 alone. There was no legislative mandate at present beyond 2000.

Regarding the suggested absorption of costs, he said the basis of resources requested in the programme budget was the minimum necessary to perform mandated activities. This draft resolution represented a change to the programme of work and was, therefore, an additional cost.

He said various factors had resulted in less spending than estimated for this year, but he could not predict or expect that these factors would apply in the future; therefore, he thought it prudent to make allowance for the activity. A degree of discounting was already built into the budget proposal, which made additional absorption impossible

Mr. MSELLE then introduced that body’s comments on the programme budget implications of the draft resolution on general and complete disarmament. The ACABQ repeated its concerns about the decrease in requirements for temporary assistance for 2000-2001, in light of the proposed absorption of the conference- servicing costs of this conference into existing proposed resources levels.

He noted that production of a press kit for the conference was planned in English, French and Spanish, and stated that the ACABQ believed that such a kit should be made available in all official languages of the United Nations. It assumed that the additional language versions would increase resource requirements, and asked the Secretariat to provide information on any such additional requirements under public information.

He also asked the Secretary-General to provide information on the cost of activities envisaged in the draft resolution, which the draft states should be carried out within existing resources. Bearing in mind those requests, he said the ACABQ recommended no change to the level of additional requirements proposed by the Secretary-General.

SUN MINQIN (China) said she was concerned that the press kit was not going to be produced in Chinese, Arabic or Russian. She agreed with the ACABQ that the press kit should use all the official languages and hoped the Secretariat would rectify this situation.

JUICHI TAKAHARA (Japan) said his delegation hoped that the meetings of the conference would turn out to be meaningful, while adhering to the relevant guidelines of the General Assembly.

MARILYN ZONICLE (Bahamas) said that on the question of summary records, there were several issues: the respect for established General Assembly procedures; the need for solutions to devastating and complex issues; and the role civil society could play in the deliberations. In a spirit of compromise she would favour summary records for the first and last sessions only.

The Bahamas also supported the view of the delegation of China that the press kit should be issued in all official languages.

Ms. SHEAROUSE (United States) said the need for summary records had not been proven, and she would not support an exception.

THOMAS AMOLO (Kenya) said the destructive and destabilizing influence of small arms was evident throughout Africa. He would have wished that all preparatory meetings for the conference should have summary records, but Kenya had decided to compromise and supported records for the first and last session of the conference. He also supported the view of the delegation of China regarding the issue of a press kit in all languages.

JEAN PHILIP DU PREEZ (South Africa) said the issue was important and the conference was significant. He was glad that the Assembly could finally agree to start off the process. He noted the cost estimates with and without summary records. The summary records would not add much value to the conference. Instead, the conference should adopt documents which would form the basis to address the issue of illicit traffic in small arms. Therefore, he did not believe the additional expense for summary records was warranted.

The expert study group was a parallel to the preparatory committee, and funds allocated to it could be better used for the preparatory process itself, he said.

MATHIAS DAKA (Zambia) said the conference was important, but while he was flexible on the summary records, he supported the points made on this matter by the representative of South Africa. In addition, all press kits should be in all official languages.

Mr. ABDALLA (Sudan) said he agreed the conference was important. He endorsed the position of China that the press kit must be published in all official languages.

RON ADAM (Israel) said he agreed with the United States. There were so many important meetings and conferences planned for 2000, and therefore the proposed summary records should not be approved.

VALERIA MARIA GONZALEZ POSSE (Argentina) said that as summary records might not add value, there should not be an exception to the Assembly decision on entitlement to summary records.

FESSEHA TESSEMA (Ethiopia) endorsed the proposal that the press kits should be in all official languages. There was a tendency to not provide summary records in all official languages. All summary documents and press kits should be available in all languages.

Ms. ZONICLE (Bahamas) said she wished to respond briefly to two comments on summary records. She said that the issue of their value was complex, as it was not just a question of security but also of commercial interests. It was also controversial. When a similar situation applied to anti-personnel land mines, where similar competing interests applied, the role of civil society was very important. It should be equally important in this matter.

The Committee on Conferences had been told that the preparatory committee would be basically procedural, but there were substantial issues to be taken up by it, she said. While the process of dealing with this issue was undertaken, civil society should be given every opportunity to fashion inputs that would make this conference a success.

Mr. SACH, on the cost of producing press kits, said that each additional language would cost $10,000, and therefore the request would require an additional $30,000.

The amount sought for non-conference servicing activities was some $300,000 less than the total cost, because there was already an allowance in the programme budget proposal to study the issue.

In connection with summary records, he pointed out that should the Committee decide not to provide summary records, the operative paragraph of the draft resolution establishing the conference would need to be amended.

EVA SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said she was concerned about the proposed absorption of some $302,000, and sought more information on this, including its impact on the expert group meetings for which the money had originally been allocated.

Mr. SACH, explained that in the proposed programme budget there was a request for resources to study small arms via an expert group, but this was directly relevant to the needs of the preparatory process, and the Secretariat was not seeking resources to duplicate this activity. The analysis was therefore not a financial implication of the draft resolution.

Ms. CASTELLANOS-GONZALEZ (Guatemala) suggested, as there had been no substantive objection to the statement of programme budget implications for the proposed extension of the mandate of MINUGUA, that the Committee should take a decision on it today.

Ms. SILOT-BRAVO (Cuba) said she thought it might be prudent to have informal consultations on the other statements of programme budget implications, but that a decision could be taken on MINUGUA.

ERNESTO HERRERA (Mexico) said he endorsed the point made by Guatemala.

NAZARETH INCERA (Costa Rica) supported the statements of the representatives who had spoken before her.

The CHAIRMAN, then proposed that the Committee inform the Assembly that:

“Should it adopt the draft resolution A/54/L.27, the requirements of $27,694,300 would be charged against the provision of $90,387,200 for special political missions requested in section 3 of the proposed programme budget for the biennium 2000-2001”.

The Committee then took this decision without a vote.

Mr. ORR (Canada) asked that all other statements of programme budget implications be considered in one meeting next week.

The CHAIRMAN said the Fifth Committee’s Bureau would consider this.

The Committee then discussed matters related to its organization of work. Concerns were raised about: informal consultations to be held in the evenings; the holding of such consultations during Ramadan; the importance of not delaying consideration of items held over from the Assembly’s fifty-third session -– particularly the items on pattern of conferences and on the review of the mandate of the Office of Internal Oversight Services; the importance of allowing adequate and reasonable time for consideration of the proposed programme budget for 2000-2001; when the ACABQ reports would be available on the scheduled consideration of the International Criminal Tribunals; and about the need to allow for consideration and a grace period every day for those who were observing Ramadan.

The Secretary of the Fifth Committee, said the two reports from the ACABQ, about which questions of availability had been asked, would be available next Wednesday. They were 90 pages long, so it had not been possible to have them published earlier.

Other Matters

Assistant Secretary-General for Central Support Services, TOSHIYUKI NIWA, responded to questions previously raised by Member States.

He explained that, over many years, the Secretariat had consistently applied its policy of not divulging full details of contractual agreements to Member States. All awards and costs were posted on the Internet and came under the scrutiny of oversight bodies, including the Board of Auditors. However, contracts contained details that were privy to the parties, and this particularly applied where terms and conditions were not those that applied to general clientele. In addition, vendors would wish to ensure that details of terms and conditions were not revealed to their competitors. For the United Nations to fail to respect normal commercial practice would have serious implications on procurement activities.

He said the quality and service of food in the cafeteria had been discussed in detail in September by the ACABQ, which had been provided with a summary of the contract and an explanation. Notwithstanding submission already made to the ACABQ, the Secretariat had decided to request that the United Nations Board of Auditors review the contract.

Regarding the issue of the bomb detection dog, he said that public discussion of security matters could compromise that security. The operation under discussion was aimed at detecting suspicious objects. The current contract costs had been extrapolated to estimate the cost of an internally-operated bomb detection dog. To run this operation in-house would cost approximately $241,000 per year, bearing in mind start up costs and operating costs, on the condition that both dogs and handlers remained in working condition for several years.

A similar exercise in estimating costs had led to the external procurement of this service in the first place, he said. At that time, costs for in-house provision of this service had been estimated to be some $250,000. Seven companies had been invited to bid for all-inclusive provision of this service, and two had responded, of which the cheaper had been selected. The service currently cost some $156,000, and the vendor carried a comprehensive liability insurance.

On the question of the chief of security, the very nature of the security arrangements limited their discussion in public. The United Nations Chief of Security travelled with the Secretary-General only when the assessed measure of threat warranted enhanced security measures. The security measures now in place at Headquarters were reasonable and prudent.

On the question of gifts to the Secretary-General, there was a list of all gifts offered to the Secretary-General in the United Nations archives, he said. No monetary value was assigned to them, and their initial location and any rotation was decided on the basis of diverse artistic and logistic considerations.

On the question of asbestos abatement, he said that despite the fact that there was asbestos-containing material in all Headquarter buildings, these was no known or measured contamination in any areas.

Air quality tests had been performed before and after abatement and had not detected asbestos particles in the air, he said. No additional protection for staff by any of the established industry safety standards and regulations were required. There were no known cases of any staff member being affected by asbestos in New York.

He said the following measures had been taken to protect staff from being exposed to asbestos fibres: air quality testing; regular inspections by facilities management staff and contractors; monitoring of maintenance activity that might give rise to asbestos contamination; and contractor assistance for air quality testing available within two hours of any such maintenance work. Ms. INCERA (Costa Rica) said she did not agree with what Mr. Niwa had said, but she would not enter into it now -- the answers should be given during informal sessions. There was a problem here -- the answers given were not what she had initially asked for. She had asked for a written breakdown of the related costs for the year of the canine service. She asked why there were additional dog security officers.

Mr. Niwa had not answered the questions on security, she said. She had also asked if the United Nations had the ability to detonate a package containing a bomb; this had not been answered. On gifts, she had asked about personal gifts to the Secretary- General. She wanted a list of gifts -- she had not asked for the monetary value. On the cafeteria contract, her colleague, who was a legal expert, would refer to this topic.

CARLOS DIAZ (Costa Rica) said on principle it was appropriate for the Secretariat to maintain some secrecy on administrative matters. But it was inappropriate for the Secretariat to imply that Member States could not keep these secrets. He asked for the legal basis for the Secretariat for keeping secrets from Member States.

DJAMEL MOKTEFI (Algeria) said his delegation would avail itself of its right to return to this matter in the informal session.

WEN CHIN POWLES (New Zealand) said Mr. Niwa would extend his fullest cooperation. She did not wish to join in any attacks on the integrity of the Secretary-General.

Ms. SILOT BRAVO (Cuba) said the matters addressed earlier by Mr. Niwa were legitimate areas of concern for Member States.

Ms. INCERA (Costa Rica) said she did not doubt the integrity of the Secretary- General -- she had merely asked a question about gifts. These could be put on show to the public. She asked the representative of New Zealand to listen to the tapes and tell her where she had questioned the integrity of the Secretary-General.

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